GeorgeSun’s Weblog

The new headquarters of China Central TV are under smooth construction and ‘loving care’ of the Communist Party. According to The Economist (Dec 2007), for more than a year, passers-by have watched the 230-metre towers creep up at a perilous six-degree angle. It is one of the world’s biggest and most ambitious buildings, of ten described as a twisted doughnut with two leaning towers connected by an impossible looking L-shaped overhang.

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According to www.AFP.com, A Chinese cyber-dissident who criticised the government over human rights abuses ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games has been detained on suspicion of subverting state power, his wife said on Dec 19, 2007. Wang Dejia, better known by his pen name Jing Chu, was hauled off by police who raided his home in the southern province of Guangxi last Thursday.

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Edwin Maher, an Australian weatherman who was working for ABC over 20 years, suddenly disappeared from the screen and joined China Central TV Channel 9 in 2003. He is the first foreign reporter who read the news for Chinese audience, which has induced a lot of taunts and reproaching from western media. Some critics viciously described him as “News Betrayer” and “Voice of CCP”. Los Angeles Times recently published a long article about Maher. He indicated that he is very angry as to the unreasonable assaults from western media and will be unperturbed towards those attacks and jibes. He said to the reporter: “I don’t really care.”

Last week, Maher had been awarded the Friendship Medal by China Central TV.

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Every December 4th is the National Law Promotion Day promoted by the CCP. But the petitioners say they want to change it to petitioners’ “appealing for justice day.” (Dec 6,2007 NTDTV)

On the eve of that day 200 petitioners from across the China gathered in Beijing for Law Publicity Day. At around 10 a.m. the day before, petitioners held an activity at the outskirts of Gongyi East Bridge to announce the first “Appeal for Justice Day.” Reporters from England, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany and Taiwan were there interviewing participants.

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According to News Media Age (nma.co.uk Dec,4) Facebook has sold $60 (£29m) stake to Hong Kong billionare Li Ka-shing, who was also behind mobile network 3.

The deal, accounting for 0.4% of the company, marks the second stake to be sold in Facebook. Microsoft bought a 1.6% share in the company for $240m (£117m) in October this year. The move will fuel speculation that Facebook is looking to break into the Chinese ad market because Ka-shing’s Hong Kong-based media company TOM Group operates in this market….

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